Beer Review: Blue Moon Honey Moon Summer Ale

July 16, 2007

I picked this up to review because I just love Blue Moon more and more every time I try it. I wanted to like this beer, I really did…..but I just didn’t love it. Let me tell you about the brew. According to the bottle, this is an ale brewed with honey and orange peel. It also says it has the “fresh flavor of orange peel and real honey with pale malt and malted white wheat”. This beer was the winner of the Specialty Honey Lager or Ale at the Great American Beer Festival: 2006. Here’s what I thought…

The Pour
This poured with a nice medium thickness head. It seemed quite pillowy and creamy. The beer looks quite carbonated, with plenty of bubbles rising quickly to the surface for a long period of time. The color matches the color of the honey in the beer. A rich golden honey color.

The Nose
Smells promising…something like a regular Blue Moon but with a touch of honey. Nice wheat and spice in the aroma.

The TasteThe first thing I noticed is that this is quite a carbonated brew. In fact, this may be the beer’s downfall. The honey is noticeable and definitely present in the finish, but I didn’t notice any orange flavor, or really much of anything else. I think the overcarbonation just hid the flavor profiles. There should have been so much more to this beer, but there just wasn’t. The carbonation hid everything.

OverallOverall, I thought this tasted more like Coors brewed it than the regular Blue Moon does. I was surprised when I first learned Coors brews Blue Moon because I think it’s a darn fine beer. This, however, is just an ordinary beer, brewed by a big beer brewery/factory with the tastes of the lowest common denominator in mind. No adventure or risk-taking in the brewing of this beer.

[…] or so ago while walking through a Publix. I’m not a big fruit-in-beer kind of guy, and their Honey Moon Summer Ale was a disappointment, but I love Blue Moon so much I thought I’d give this a shot. I […]

I agree completely, this beer was a disappointment, especially considering how superb Blue Moon is. The taste is just off, and it feels almost taxing to finish a beer! I would stick with the good ol’ fashioned original.

Give this beer a chance. First of all, you have to let it breathe in a glass for 5-10 minutes. That will reduce some of the fizz. Next, this beer must have an orange wedge squeezed then dropped in. Drink it slowly. The second half will be spectacular. Peace.

I had a tall glass of draft honey moon ale at ruby tuesdays.havent tried it in a bottle. It was served with a slice of orange in it. I thought it was quite pleasing. although i wonder why they put the orange slice in it. Maybe the brewed orange peel just isnt strong enough. But at least its not overkill like bud lime and miller chill!

This is my new favorite! It’s a great summertime ale with a hint of honey and orange. There’s no hard core hops flavor. Great stuff! In fact – all the women at the BBQ liked it, so maybe it’s a girl thing?

Blue Moon Honey Moon is exceptional. I love the original and tried this at the beginning of summer and thought it was awesome. I’m surprised to see that you guys think its too carbonated. I drink it out of the bottle and love it.

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